


what died didn't stay dead

by arrum_rose



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Lives, F/M, Fixing the Dyad, Light Smut, POV Rey (Star Wars), Post-TROS fix it, Redeemed Ben Solo, They are so in love, Virgin Ben Solo, Virgin Rey (Star Wars), no beta we die like men, saving what we love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:42:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28339413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arrum_rose/pseuds/arrum_rose
Summary: In the aftermath of Exegol, Rey is still devastated by the loss of her dyad partner and the love of her life. Rey knows Ben is still alive. She hears his voice in her head, and she can feel him through their bond. She needs to find answers, but she doesn't know if she'll ever be able to bring him back.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46
Collections: Reylo Evermore Flash Fic





	what died didn't stay dead

**Author's Note:**

> Is this completely accurate to the canonverse? Maybe not. Is it a little ridiculous? Probably. Do I care? Nah, I just want my space babies back together and this is how I'm getting them back together babbbyyyy. 
> 
> Based on "Marjorie" by Taylor Swift for the #reyloevermore fic challenge!

_ If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were talking to me now.  _

Despair. Unlike any other. A completed dyad shredded into pieces. A lost soul, drifting further and further away from herself. Anguish. Complete and utter devastation. Ben’s physical body, gone, and with it, so too was her soul. 

It had been three months since Exegol. Three months since Rey finally found her soulmate, her epic love, her dyad, and then had him ripped away from her completely. Three months since Rey had become a hollow husk of her former glorious and powerful self. 

Ben Solo was never meant to die. It was never written in the stars that he must die. Rey continued to believe that, even though it was becoming harder to hold onto the hope that fate had something more planned for them. The force brought them together for a reason, and she was determined to find it and bring him back. 

His body disappeared before her eyes, vanished right into thin air, and yet, Rey had a feeling, a deep-rooted intuition, that he was still alive somewhere. 

_ No force ghost _ . That was her first hint that Ben was still out there. Luke and Leia had appeared to her, as had multiple other Jedi over the past few months, guiding her down the path to him. His was the only ghost that she had not encountered yet, and unless he was choosing to keep himself hidden from her, she suspected that meant he was still at least partially alive. 

_ Ahch-To.  _ That was her second hint. The island had shown her incredible and mysterious visions before, and she felt like something on that planet had the key to bringing her love back. 

_ A feeling.  _ Her third and least tangible hint. The dyad connected her and Ben in more ways than just spiritual. She was in tune to his every emotion and thought by the time their bond had strengthened to a higher potential. When he died, that bond didn’t die with him as it should have if he had truly been gone for good. He was still alive somehow, and she was going to use their connection to find and save him. 

When Rey had returned to her friends on the Resistance base, she felt like a stranger. They would try to talk to her or ask her what happened, but all of it faded into background noise. In the two months she was with them there, she never found the right words to say to them to tell them that the love of her life sacrificed himself for her. 

It got to be a challenge whenever they would all eat in the mess hall together. Poe or Finn would start to recall the events of the war, and Poe would flippantly start to speak ill of Kylo Ren. He called him a monster and said he was glad that the galaxy was rid of him. Rey tried her best to not go on the defensive immediately. She knew that by defending Ben’s name it would alienate her further from everyone, but one night her grief got the best of her, and she snapped furiously at Poe. 

“Shut up for once, Poe! Stop pretending like you’re so righteous and good by speaking like this of the dead. Be-,” she caught herself, “ _ Kylo _ was a broken man. He was manipulated and abused by voices in his head, and then later Snoke, for his entire life. His uncle betrayed him, his parents sent him away. He felt like he had no choice but to turn to darkness.” She felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn’t stop yelling at him. “How would Leia or Han feel if they knew you were speaking so awfully about their only son? The dead don’t just disappear Poe. They’re listening, and they’re probably rolling in their graves from the anguish his death has caused them. Now you’re just rubbing salt into the wound, you arrogant piece of-”

_ “Rey.”  _

She stopped dead in her tracks. 

That voice. It haunted her every memory and kept her awake at night, haunted by the memory of the man she still loved. 

_ “It’s okay, Rey. I’m right here.”  _

The tears were flowing freely, and she stood up to try and find where this voice was coming from. “Ben? Where are you?” 

_ “I’m with you. I’m where I should be.”  _

Rey let out a choked sob and began walking around the mess hall in complete agony, trying desperately to find him amongst the faces of the Resistance, who were all staring at her in confusion and shock. 

“I can’t find you, Ben. You’re not where you should be because you should be right here, next to me!” She couldn’t have been a pretty sight at that moment. Tears poured down her face in waves, and she had a crazed look in her eye. It was a look of pure desperation. 

_ “I’m with you. Always. Find me, sweetheart.”  _

She waited with bated breath for more words from him, but after a few moments of silence, she realized that was all the communication she would get from him. Her knees buckled from under her, and she sobbed helplessly on the floor of the mess hall as Poe, Finn, and Rose gathered around her to help her. 

Rey didn’t realize she had fainted until she awoke later in the med-bay. Finn and Rose were both waiting by her side, sitting and sleeping with his head on Rose’s shoulder. 

As she watched her friends sit there in peaceful bliss, she thought back to the voice she heard earlier. It was Ben for sure. If she didn’t know better, she would assume he was still around, alive and well, but she knew that in truth, he wasn’t. He was still gone. 

Something about his voice stuck with her. It wasn’t completely in her head, and that gave her hope that she didn’t just make it all up. His voice was coming from the outside, as if somehow his spirit was trapped between life and death. 

Rey knew then that she had to leave the Resistance for good and find him. She slipped out of bed quietly, snuck past her friends and the medical droid attending to another patient, and ran to the hangar that held the Falcon. 

It must have been especially early, because no one was around in the hangar to watch the ships, and she snuck onto the Falcon without much difficulty. Within ten minutes, she had the coordinates for Ahch-To locked in, and she was flying out of the base and towards an answer. 

One month into living on Ahch-To and meditating by the black cave where she saw her first visions, Rey still had nothing. No new answers for how to find Ben. 

She still held onto the hope that he was with her. Somehow, she could feel him, even stronger now that she was on the island. 

The answer came to her in a dream one night. Something pulled her out of bed and led her back to the cave. The invisible force led her into a pool of freezing water, and then all the way to the same reflective wall that she had found when she was here years ago. 

_ “Rey. Find my son. Here. He’s here.”  _

Leia’s voice rang through Rey’s mind as she reached out to graze her fingers across the mysterious cave wall. 

The moment her fingertips made contact with it, she saw a familiar figure appear from the other side of the wall. 

“Ben?” 

His image slowly became clearer, and he offered her a soft smile. “Rey.” 

She felt the pinprick of more tears at the corners of her eyes. “I thought I’d never see you again.” 

Ben reached out to place his hand on hers, but the wall separated them and prevented her from feeling the warmth of his skin. 

Rey searched for a way to rip the wall down and bring him over to the other side. “How do I get you back, Ben? Tell me what to do, I don’t know.” She choked a little on her tears. 

He smiled sadly at her, and gave her a defeated shake of his head. “It’s impossible, Rey. I’m trapped here.” 

Her tears dripped onto the cave floor as she brought her other hand up to try and push through the barrier. “I can’t live without you. I need you here, back with me. It wasn’t supposed to end like this; we were supposed to have a happy ending. We were meant to be together, Ben. Forever.” 

He leaned his forehead against the wall and sighed. “I will be with you forever, Rey. Inside your head and your heart. I’m always with you.” 

A soft hand on her face jolted her awake from her dream, but when she sat up and looked around the small hut, there was no one. She was still alone. 

She decided to go back to the cave and find the reflecting wall from her dreams. That dream was giving her the answers, and she knew Ben had something to do with it. She got dressed quickly and ran to the black cave as fast as her feet could carry her. 

When she made it to the reflecting wall, Ben was not waiting for her behind the other side as he had been in her dreams, but she knew he was there. She could feel it. 

Rey sat on the cave floor in front of the wall and began meditating, pouring her energy into pulling him from this strange in-between world. 

She sat there for two days, never taking a break or moving from her spot on the floor. She wouldn’t move until Ben was back in her arms. 

At the start of the third day, she had begun to lose hope. She hadn’t even heard his voice since coming to this cave, and now she was beginning to feel the pains of hunger and thirst. 

When she opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of Ben, sitting across from her in the same exact position that she was in. At first, she was too shocked to move, stunned by his presence there. Her silent awe was broken when he locked his eyes on hers and smiled. That gorgeous smile that she had only seen once before. 

She pounced on him, causing him to let out a small ‘oof’ as they tumbled to the floor. Tears of joy leaked from her eyes, and she held him as tightly as she could as they laid on the cave floor. 

He chuckled and nuzzled into her hair as she sobbed into his shoulder. “Rey.” 

His voice, clear as day and so lovely against the shell of her ear, made her shiver. 

Eventually, they pulled back from their embrace, and Rey helped him sit up. “How are you here? I thought you would be stuck forever. How is this possible?”

Ben smiled and brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “You brought me back, Rey. The Force felt your grief over losing your dyad partner, and I guess your pleading here made it want to show us some mercy for once.” 

She gripped his hand tightly in both of hers and kissed his palm. “Thank the maker you’re here now. I missed you so much.”

He kissed her knuckles and pulled her closer to him, nearly pulling her into his lap. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere now.” Ben swallowed nervously and looked into her eyes with a soft reverence that she hadn’t seen since their kiss on Exegol. “I love you.” 

Rey smiled sweetly at him, pouring her love and affection for him into their bond, and placed a light kiss to his lips. “I know.” 

They returned to the main part of the island, both having to help each other to walk due to their combined weakness, his from being trapped in the world between worlds (as he called it) for three months, and hers from not eating or drinking water for almost three days. Upon their return, Rey gathered her things from her hut and led him to the Falcon, docked not too far from her temporary residence. 

Ben took his time exploring the inside of his father’s ship. He ran his hands along the controls and across the seats in silence. She knew he would tell her more about his thoughts later, but for now, they needed rest, and he needed time to reconcile with the memories of his childhood.

They ate together by a small fire, and Rey recalled another time when they sat, much like this, around a fire. His hand, warm in hers, despite being separated by the vast expanse of space. Their whole relationship flickered before Rey’s eyes as she stared into the fire. 

Their first meeting, where he revealed his face to her. She was so conflicted back then, scared of the monstrous tales of Kylo Ren, but enamored with the handsome man who held the title. Their many battles, but especially the ones where they fought together against a common enemy. The moment in the elevator, on their way to Snoke, when Rey correctly told him that he would turn and join her. How she wanted to kiss him then. Perhaps if she had, things would have gone differently. Maybe the war would have ended much earlier if she had gathered the courage to kiss him then. 

All of these memories, however, made their bond stronger. She wouldn’t trade any of it for the world, now that she knew that she and Ben would get their happy ending. 

That night, Rey slept better than she ever had before. Ben wrapped her up in his warm arms, and it felt like she was finally where she was always meant to be. 

The bond flickered with pure joy and bliss as they slept, but it burned even brighter when they awoke the next morning.

Ben awoke her with kisses to her neck and shoulders, stirring her awake. She noticed something hard and heavy against her thigh, but she did not fear it. She could never fear anything with Ben by her side. Nervous glances and words of confirmation combined with shaky hands caressing each other’s skin eventually led them to be fully bared before each other. Hand to hand, chest to chest, skin to skin. 

Neither of them had done this before, but Ben knew enough to know that he had to prepare her first. Strange sensations filled Rey’s body as he touched her and licked at her, but it all led to a feeling of pure blissful release when she crested. 

As Ben finally slid himself into her body, the bond strummed around them in excitement. Finally, they felt complete. He gave her everything he had to offer, and she gave him everything she was in return. When they crested over the hill together, it was as if the universe itself was locking itself into place. 

In the glowing aftermath of their lovemaking, tangled in the sheets and staring into each other’s eyes, Ben traced the freckles on her arms. 

“Your arm has little constellations. It’s like the stars branded themselves on your skin,” he said softly. 

She smiled and grazed her finger along the various little marks on his arms as well. “You have constellations on your skin too, Ben. Maybe if we mapped out all of our combined stars we would have a map of the whole galaxy.” 

He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and let his lips linger there, his breath lightly grazing across her skin. “Where in the galaxy do you want to go, sweetheart? We can go anywhere you want, and as long as I have you it’ll be perfect.” 

Rey told him she wanted to move somewhere green and beautiful. Two days later, they settled in his old family home on Naboo and started their new life together. 

Nightmares still crept up now and again. Memories of his death and the horrors they faced on Exegol, but now they had each other for comfort. Rey was forever grateful to the force for bringing Ben back to her, and she was grateful to herself for listening to her instinct that Ben was still alive, and not just as a memory in her head. 

Rey had Ben back, and they were never letting each other go again. 

_ What died didn’t stay dead. You’re alive, so alive.  _

**Author's Note:**

> THEY ARE SOFT SPACE BABIES IN SPACE. 
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/arrum_rose) for fic and life updates!


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